Sunny day

It was a very pleasant day at the range. Made a lot of empty brass today. The reloads worked flawlessly. Absolutely love my new lever action. Didn't hit the rifle range as it was a swamp and I didn't bring my waders. We have been getting a lot of rain and in the fall they leveled the range area and created a mud pit in the wet weather. I imagine they will seed it in the spring, but it is a mess now. When the temps drop in a week or so it should freeze enough to walk on. Bumped into a couple of the guys from cowboy town I talk with at the club. One of them steered me toward a supplier for lead bullets that are really reasonably priced. About a third of what I am paying now. Going to get an order in for a thousand of .38 and .45.  The guy who told me about the lead was out with a nice 1911 he uses at the wild bunch shoots they have. I need to start loading for that as well. I pick up .45 acp lead at the show, but it would be cheaper loading it myself. I have a Smith and Wesson 1911 and it's something different to shoot over there. Wednesday is the monthly club meeting and the gun raffle, sooo, I am hoping on coming home with another new toy. For free, I am not even picky which one : )  Figure I will take a few of the guns to cowboy town before the meeting. It is suppose to be 62 degrees and sunny Wednesday. I hope the rest of winter goes like this. I don't care if I ever see snow again.

Very productive weekend so far

Went out yesterday morning and had my taxes done and filed, so that is out of the way for another year. I then headed over to the gun shop and picked up a couple miscellaneous items I forgot the other day. Ran off a few hundred rounds of .38 ammo before breaking dillon down and setting up for .45 long colt. Would have been a lot quicker if you didn't have to change primer rods from small to large. Had trouble with pick up tube at first, then discovered some flash on the plastic tip inside pick up tube. The primers were hanging up on it. Trimmed it clean and all went well. Reloaded one hundred rounds of the .45 yesterday and will finish loading one hundred more today. Want to pick up some more brass at the next gun show so I can keep more on hand. I am taking a couple single stage presses I have in for a couple of the guys at work who want to get into reloading. Loaning them my reloading video as well. They can see if it looks like something they want to get into before investing a lot of money. See if they would like to come over and try the dillon out while it is set up as well. I really like the dillon alot better than the old lee press I had. It didn't have the primer set up or the powder drop. A lot more labor intensive. One of the guys at work said he would be interested in the lee if he decides to get into reloading.

Going to pack up some guns and head to the club to turn some of the reloads back to brass again. Not  too bad out today. Suppose to be about 60 degrees for the next couple of days. Probably load the guns before heading to work Monday and Tuesday as well. That way I can head straight to the club from work. It is only a ten minute ride from work and a couple of the guys wanted to see the 66 lever action. The one engineer from work just got a new rifle from cabelas he wanted to show me. He called yesterday while I was at H&R block getting my taxes done. Him and his kids were out at the club. His kids just got their first rifles at Christmas time so they and their dad were out trying their new toys.

The right ammo makes all the difference.

The 66 lever action is absolutely beautiful. It feeds so incredibly smooth and is just a joy to shoot. The big difference between the 66 and the 94 is the way the carrier operates. The 66 is a simple design. When you operate the lever, the carrier block drops straight down, bullet is pushed onto carrier from magazine, carrier block goes straight up with cartridge held perfectly horizontal in carrier lining up perfectly  every time. Whereas the 94 has a carrier that picks up cartridge and hinges upward as bolt comes forward so cartridge is at an angle. This sometimes creates a feed issue with cartridges binding or flipping as they did in the Rossi .357. The 66 feeds and shoots as fast as you can operate the lever. The .45 long colt doesn't kick much harder than the .38 does, but the targets sure sound out a lot louder. I am definitely going to be shooting this one on a regular basis. I need to drop by the store tomorrow and pick up the dies and bullets for it. See about picking up some more brass at the next gun show.

 It was a little chilly when I got off work (35degrees to be exact) and it was drizzling out, but that just meant that the range wouldn't be crowded. I went to sign in and found only one person had been there since I was there yesterday. I went through half the box of ammo I bought yesterday, and the round nose flat point bullets made a big difference in the way it fed. That will teach me to pay more attention when picking up ammo next time. It also determined what bullets I will use to load.Very accurate as well. I wish I had more ammo so I could have played longer. I saved part of the box so my buddy can try it out tomorrow if he doesn't wind up working late. Two more days and it's the week end. I am going to try and get some more rounds reloaded for the pistols and hopefully load some .45's Friday  if I can get a set of dies.

The engineer at work ordered a gun from Cabellas gun library and is suppose to get it Friday or Saturday so I may have some company at the range. He is the one that brought his brother and nephews out last time. He wants to get into reloading. I told him I would loan him my old press to see if he likes reloading before he gets too much invested in it. I told him I would bring in a video on reloading he can use as well.

Finally made it to the club...briefly

I actually got out on time today, giving me an hour of daylight for shooting. Club rules, you have to stop half hour before sunset. There is a substantial difference in the knock down power between the .45 long colt and the .38 special. The new rifle will feed better, when I use the right bullet tomorrow. I picked up lead ammo, which is fine, but it was semi wad cutters. Semi wad cutters do not feed well in a lever action. Soooo, on the way home, I hit Red Ghost gun shop and picked up some round nose flat points that should work fine. Try them out tomorrow and pick up dies, bullets and conversion kit tomorrow so I can reload for the weekend. Hope to get the M1A out as well. I will pack the truck in the morning so I can go directly to the club from work. I can make it from work in ten minutes so it would buy me some daylight. Hoping the rain they are predicting misses us or hits after the sun goes down. Looks like we might have eight hour days this week.I like overtime, but it is nice to get a breather once in a while. Surprised the club wasn't packed as nice as it was today.

Good day for a trip to Whittakers

I couldn't resist. I had to go back and get this model 66 lever action. It is unbelievably smooth and beautiful as well. They had some lead ammo for it as well, so we will be breaking her in tomorrow at cowboy town. They are calling for mid 50's for tomorrow so it should be rather pleasant out there. I picked up some Trail Boss powder to try out as well. Try loading some tonight to try out in the revolvers. Want to try out the M1A while I am out as well.

They had a few trapdoors and some 03's in the military section that weren't too bad. Trapdoor may find its way home one of these days. They were unbelievably busy today. The counters were loaded with guns heading to new homes. I was happy to look around at the inventory and wait for the crowd to taper off..Picked up  a reload manual while I was there. They have the new Speer manual out as well. Found they have the Greek ammo for the 03 on the shelf for a really reasonable cost. They must have had it for a while as it is actually a little lower than the CMP has it for at present. I couldn't find the H&R Garrand they were showing online. Didn't make the Ferdinand gunshow. May do that tomorrow to see what it is like. I don't think I have been to that one yet.

Yeah, it's the weekend

It was a long hard week, but it is behind me now. I managed to get the CNC OD grinder back up and running again. They really mangled it bad while I was out. Bad enough that they crushed the accordion guards that cover the ways,but then they used a pry bar to remove them instead of leaving it alone until someone with a little common sense could look at it. I was able to bend them back into shape and reuse them. New ones run $4000.00 . Wouldn't have been so bad if they hadn't tried to fix it. Then they run the machine with the guarding off and wonder why coolant went everywhere. Fortunately for them, the rubber guard that resides under the metal one they mangled kept coolant out of the oil and the ways of the machine.

 Caught up most of the work that fell behind when I went on vacation in December. I actually got off after only nine hours today. Yeah. And I get a two day weekend. Hopped over to a chinese restaurant I found via the Internet on the way home. Wasn't too bad. Tomorrow I am either going to the gunshow in Ferdinand or down to Whitakers. They still have my lever action I am contemplating as well as a few other interesting guns I want to check out.

Will also head down to the club to burn up some ammo in cowboy town. Hopefully with my new lever action. I can finally shoot my M1A as well. Weather is only suppose to be in the 40's, but dry and sunny. Need to pick up some more powder while I am out as well. Want to try out Trail boss and see how it fairs. Some of the guys at the club use it, others use titegroup. Need to order some lead bullets in .45 as well. They shoot wild bunch at the club and you can use a 1911 for it. I thought I had picked up some at one of the shows, but I either can't find them or am mistaken. Really wish I had been able to make the Indy show as last time I was there, there was a vendor that had a really great price on lead bullets.

One day does not a weekend make

It was a rough Saturday at work. I wanted to make the Indy1500 show today, but I couldn't pry myself out of bed. A little extra sleep and I feel a whole lot better. Still haven't been able to get to the range with my newest toy. Maybe next weekend. Did my grocery shopping today as the fridge was empty. Stopped at the magazine rack as I usually do. I discovered my club made the winter addition of " Guns of the old west" magazine. The last few years, the NCOWS have rented out our club to have their National match in June. They rent it out for a week and the club members are welcome to join in or just observe. It is really something to see. They set up an encampment reminiscent of the era. They are all in western garb  and live in the old fashioned type of tents. They usually have stores set up as well that are fun to check out. I will have to take some pictures of it this year and post them. All the buildings seen in the mag of cowboy town were built by club members from supplies donated by club members. It was odd stumbling on pictures in a magazine of the club. Have to let Rob at the club know it is in this edition in case club members want a copy. Hope to make it back down to Whittaker's this week if they don't have me on tens all week. Want to pick up that lever action I was checking out when I picked up the M1A the week before last. I am pretty sure I will trade in the Rossi I am not too impressed with towards it's purchase..

Yeah, it's freakin snowing

Moved down here from the Chicago area (Indiana side of the line, not the commie side) and I still can't believe it. They don't have a clue about road care. My coworkers like to compare how in Chicago you get snow, but down here you get ice. What they fail to understand is, up north you get snow AND ice. The big difference is up north they had the God given sense to salt and prep for bad weather. Down here I guess the logic is God put it there, we will patiently wait for Him to remove it. It took thirty five minutes to drive home from work which is only ten minutes away. In the four miles from work to home I passed six vehicles down in the ditches that border most of the roadways down here. One clueless individual, apparently suicidal, got out of the car he put in the ditch while going down hill and popped up on the roadway while I was going down hill. Lucky for him the other side of road was vacant as I could not stop on the ice that put him in the ditch in the first place. Hopefully today's little flurry thinned out some of the not so brights. I can't fault him for going down into the ditch as the roads were icy, but to hop up onto the road with traffic sliding down the hill heading to a tunnel in the dark, not so bright. He was in luck as the tow truck behind me was able to stop and give aide. I do wish these people would get a clue and salt the roads before the temps get so low it does no good. Have to work Saturday. Hoping Sunday is decent out as I would like to hit the Indy 1500 gun show if roadways aren't heinous. New year is off to a bang. Working sixty plus hours a week so far. Hope it keeps up for a while. Rather work the extra hours while it is cold out than summer time.

Almost missed light a candle day.

I must be living under a rock. I guess the nimrods that are against the second amendment picked today as light a candle day against gun violence. Not violence, gun violence. If only they would wake up and look at reality. Chicago has the highest crime rate in the nation, but the strongest gun control. Perhaps we could be like Mexico where guns are illegal. Wait a minute, their crime rate is through the roof as well. It is also ironic that wherever carry permits are allowed, the crime rate falls. Maybe because the criminals know that there is a possibility their target may shoot back. I firmly believe that places such as Chicago that have politicians that are against guns, should have in place a ruling. It is quite simple. If the people are to be denied their constitutional right to bear arms, so shall the politicians in that local. If Daly and the other parasites that oppose firearms were denied the ability to carry and denied armed body guards, their views may be slightly different than they are at present.If gun control reduces violence, Chicago would not be the cesspool it is today. If they truly had facts on their side, Holder would not have to had played games like fast and furious to try and give anti gun groups the edge they need to support their stance. Any how, Here is my candle to add to the others.

Whittaker trip

Woke up bright and early, and headed over to Whittakers to pick up my M1A. It's about a 45 minute trip, but it is through Kentucky, which is always a nice scenic trip. I stayed to check out the inventory, which is huge. I saw an Uberti remake of the  1866 Henry carbine. Absolutely beautiful. The action is unbelievably smooth and the finish is outstanding. The action is by far, better than the Henry rifles, as I tried them side by side. I believe it will be going on my shopping list for somewhere down the road. Might take my Rossi in, that I am not impressed with, and work out a trade.

I was really happy when I picked up the M1A, as it has all the papers, the box, 1 magazine and has the M14 stock. Picked up some match ammo for it and a reloading manual while I was there. Stocked up on some cleaning supplies while I was at it.

Really like my dillon reloader. It works nice and smooth. Beats having to hand prime and manually measure powder.

Ready for the weekend.........

I found my M1A at last.  I always check the web page for Whittaker gun shop in Owenboro to check on what cool things they may have for sale. I found a M1A for under a grand. It is used, but in as new condition.  Even the cheap Chinese knock offs go for more than that. Working overtime all week trying to catch up on work, so I have to wait until Saturday to pick it up. Suppose to be almost 60 degrees tomorrow and the next day. I can't believe it's still warm in January. Pick up the gun and then it is off to the range to try it out. The reloads worked well last weekend, so I will play around in cowboy town as well. Only one more long day to go.

Plenty of room

Went to the range to try out some of the rounds I loaded yesterday and had the whole club to myself. A little snow blowing around and 29 degree weather, everyone stayed home. Hope to get several hundred rounds loaded this week. Want to load some .357 as well to try in the lever action to see if they feed better. The dillon is nice. I had a Lee press that didn't have the primer feed or the powder feed, so I had to hand prime and fill the cases. This press is great. The only thing that would have been better is if it had the auto index feature like the square deal does, but the square deal only does pistol rounds. Suppose to be back up in the 50's again by the weekend, so probably be turning some of the reloads back to brass again.

dillon is up and running....Yeah

Finally got out the drill, saw and some wood and mounted the dillon 550B up on my reloading bench. I drilled holes in the bench and put threaded steel inserts in from underneath so I can just bolt the piece of plywood I mounted the press on  down to the bench with four bolts. When I am done, I can unbolt it and safely store it out of the way on the lower shelf of the bench. That gives me room to use the top for cleaning the firearms or just miscellaneous use. I ran some .38 off for cowboy town. Tomorrow I will adjust it and do some .357 magnum to try in the rifle to see if it functions better with that.

 I want to order a die plate from e-bay for it. Somebody used their head and made a die plate that is  .125 thinner than it's slot and gives a .125 shim with it. This way you can set up for .38 and just by putting the shim on the other side and adjusting the powder drop, you are off and running on .357 in minutes. Plus you only need one set of dies and you don't need to keep adjusting height to do the two rounds. Pretty slick idea.

Want to head to range and try some of the rounds out in the morning if the weather permits. If all goes well, I have a thousand bullets and plenty of brass and primers. Spend most of the evenings this week making ammo. Last day of vacation tomorrow so have to make the most of it.